Question 1: What was the general strategy or plan behind your bot design?

I got inspired to build a robot in this style while competing at the summer games hosted by Science Central. Because they don't allow any custom electronics in the LEGO classes, I was forced to compete in their "Open" class. This class is meant for non-LEGO robots, big, strong, monsters, built with metal and servos etc. After watching a few matches, it was readily apparent that the dominant design utilized a flip-down scoop or wedge on the front end that started each bout flipped-up to avoid the size limitations. I thought to myself, I can make that in LEGO!

Question 2: What technologies/mechanisms did you use?

I had a flip-down slope on both the front and back ends of the robot. Also on the front end, I had a secondary pushing fork. This was built underneath the flip-down slope in case an enemy got below the slope I would still have some protection.

For enemy detection, I used a top facing dual infra-red proximity detector (DIRPD), purchased from Techno-Stuff Robotics. It uses 2 IR LEDs to emit and a single detector that watches for bounce-back. This was positioned just above the front slope, and it also flipped-down on bout start.

I used touch sensor based edge detection rather than light sensor. I first attempted this type of edge detection in Sumo-bot 4 and had many problems with it. After reworking the design of the feelers, I think I got it right this time.

Question 3: What was the most challenging aspect of construction?

Originally I built 3 different versions of what ended up being Dubya. Each version had a different set of wheels, a different gear ration on the drive train and different types of slopes and forks on the front end. It was tough for me to decide on which one was going to be the most effective because I only have 1 RCX. So I had to rig one with a battery box and then use the RCX on another one and line them up so they would have a head-on collision. In the end, the decision was based on weight!

Question 4: Are there any special features you care to talk about?

As I mentioned, I originally built 3 version of Dubya. the chassis was essentially the exact same on each of them. I built the chassis in such a way that the RCX could be pulled off and or added on easily. This proved to be rather helpful during the design and testing phases.

Question 5: What surprised you about how your bot behaved/performed during the event?

Because I had built 3 robots for Sumo-bot 5, and I have my own ring, I was able to do a lot of testing of Dubya. Ultimately, it performed as expected: when it "saw" the enemy it pushed them out, when it didn't see the enemy it sat in place looking for them. Although I do have to say that I was quite pleased with the general strength the drive train / wheel combination ended up being. It's hard to remember precisely, but I don't think it was pushed out of the ring once.